Bingo board with pivoted shutter



April 953 E. P. BUCHMILLER 2,634,131

BINGO BOARD WITH PIVOTED SHUTTER Filed Jan. 29, 1951 INVENTOR EARL P. ,IBUCHMILLE ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 7, 1953 ED STAT EIS: PAT ENT Q FF 2,634,131; BINGOBUARD WITH PIVGEED SHUTTER:

Earl B. Buchmiller, Denvem. G010 Application J anuary-29, 1951g S'eriaLNb: 208341 lilGlainu. (-101. 2735-435.)

- Thisdnvention relates'tonumber-bearlnacards orboards ofthe:generaPtype,form and style commonly utilized in play of the game bingo a. cur

rently-popularvariant of lot-to or-of the derivatives of-ithe latter known askeno and beano', andhas as anobject -toprovide-an'-improved such card:

(inboard well and particularly adapted petitions use in-suchplay;

A further object of the invention is toprovide an improved. construction andrelationship of" elements constituting a bingo'board adapted: for

convenient; repetitious-use i'n-game play:

further obj eat I of the inventionis to providean impmved" binge board characterized by via-- ually exposed' numb ersand associated means sel'ectively manipulable into individual covering're- 'lation with such numbers;

. Afurther:object"oftheinvention. is to provide anaimproved bingo: board that" is simple-andin expensiveiof: production, complete and self-containect ficrpiay purposes, convenient of use, positively indicative of'appropri'ate playregistrations, smootluflat and compact in form, and susceptible of repetitiousplay use throughout a period determinedionly by thedurability of the materials of its. construction.

. With:.the foregoing. and other objects in view; my: invention consists in. the construction, ar-- rangement;andcombinationofelementsas hereina-fter: set forth, pointed out? in=my--c1'aim, and" illustnatedi by the accompanying drawing, inwhich-- Eigurell. 15 a plan view. of. the playing f'ace of a. typicatbingaz board embodying the.-. principles andLimprovements of thec-instantinvention; Figune-Z is; a; cross section. on.- an enlarged scale; taken substantially on: theindicatedi line. 21-2 of: Figure. 1. Figure. 3. is. detail, isometric view. of a, shutter. element; employed: in; multiple; in; the

constitution of. the. board as. shown in the PIE:

ceding. views.. Figure 4. is aiview similar: to; Rig;-

2. ure 3i'illust ratin'g-sasmodifiediform ofaishutten'eleement; Figure 5- is a; fragmentary; detail eleva. tion, on an enlarged scale; of the uppen left-ham areaof Figure: 1', a portion of. thashowinggheingz. broken awayto discloseotherwise concealedn-elae tionships. Figure 6 is a fragmentary, detail-seize tion,. on an enlarged scale; takenqsubstantially. on the: indicated line 5"--5: of: Figure.- 1 Figure-. 7: is: a sectibn: similar to Figure; 6; illustrating? Ilsa-of:- the-shutter element according to Figure h.

As is welliknown-hplaya of: thezgame; bingmlorroff the. similar gamesalotto; keno; and; beanc, involves: theause of.certaimfacilitiea.onezof.whicmisa cardfi or boardibearingiand visually exhibiting-numbers;

' in any: convenient: rectangular pattern efiective;

todispose fi'vei. playnumbers: in; each". ot several. transverse. or: horizontal rows. At; the. start. of: play; allot-the numbers; on the play field of the; card. or board. are: clearly exp.osed;. and. as. the; play, progresses; board or; card. numbers correspending. with numbers selected by hazard are; covered; or; otherwise; clearly distinguished, until; aproper sequence; of: covered; numbers, usuallyall; fivenumbers characterizingzany onetransverse or; horizontal row, on; any." boarder; card, in. play, determines: the: winner; Manifestly; the cards on boards, are adaptedforrrep etitioususein-the playmg: of; successive; games when appropriate prom.- sionis made. for,- designating the. called; numbers without. marking; or disfiguring the; card. and. to; that end.itisconventionaLto.useindividua-lmalike ers, separate; from; the. card orboard to comer, 101: mark ontheindividual. play fields .thecalled -num-.- bers. that appear: thereon butsuch. individual; separate markers. are; susceptible. of. loss inconvenient of user. andeasily: displaced. relative. to a: cardor-board whereonthey have beenposit-ioned; hence, the instant; invention is 1 directedto. theprovisionof; a board orcard unitqfor. use. in. play. ofthe games .set forththat is susceptible OfiIEPGtL. tious usewith; none of: the disadvantages of; hitherto conventional such: units.

As. illustrated; the improved. board is constitut, ed from. two, coextensive. like or similar: sheets: or cards; In. and. I It superposed. in: marginalregistration. and permanently united; by appropriate means such as. stitching, stapling;v adhesive agents, or an adhesively-securedtape; binding 12, extending along and. entirely; about thearegiss tered. marginsv oi the.) elements; III. andrql l:.. The sheets or. cards. In and. II; may'beofsanypsuit-i able, material characterizedby; the properties. of stiffness strength, and durability; appropriateto the. intended. use.consideratirms; of; availability and economy favoring;v paperboard; as eminently practical for the production of such elements in quantity. One of the sheets or cards, in this instance the element It], forms the back of the unit assembly, is imperforate, and is imprinted or otherwise worked on its face adjacent and largely covered by the element II to exhibit a jumbled series of numbers l3 in an order and pattern suitable for game play, and the sheet or card element ll is intersected by a plurality of like windows or openings l4, preferably rectangular, corresponding in number and arrangement with the individual number I3 representations on the associated element It so as to visually expose said numbers l3, individually, through said windows to present an obverse play face of the unit assembly closely simulating the play face of conventional bingo cards or boards. In addition to the patterned arrangement of play numbers l3, each of the card or board units customarily carries an identification number or symbol which, in the improved construction, may be marked or imprinted on the face of the element l carrying the numbers l3, as at l5, in position for exposure through an appropriate window l6 intersecting the element l i in ofiset relation with the window I4 pattern.

As is readily apparent, the card or board constituted as thus far described is the functional equivalent of conventional bingo cards or boards and is available for use in game play in association with separate markers or analogous means for covering or distinguishing those ofthe numbers l3 that have been called. in play, but a significant feature of the improvement is the provision of a shutteror marker permanently associated witheach number l3 and its window [4 in a manner facilitating adjustment of the shutter to either cover or expose the associated number, as illustrated and hereinafter described. As shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, the shutter or marker characterizing the improvement is a thin, flat member I! of suitable sheet material receivable between the adjacent, interior faces of the elements and H, it being feasible and desirable, though not essential, to form said members H from transparent sheet plastic in a color contrasting with that of the element It! and II exposed areas. The members I! of each unit assembly are alike, one such member being supplied'for each of the play numbers 13 of the unit, and each said member i1 is conveniently of modified rectangular form to present, in plan, a major end area slightly greater than the open area of the number-exposing Window l4 and a reduced, opposite end area outlined between a colinear extension of one of the major area side margins and an edge inwardly inclined from the other major area side margin to mergence with said colinear extension in a manner definitive of a tapered finger portion iii. A cylindrical stud I9 is fixed to outstand from the reduced end of the finger portion l8 with its axis perpendicular to the plane of the member I! in a length not exceeding the thickness of the element In and said stud is received in a hole 20 formed for its accommodation through the element III in such relation with each of the windows id as will pivotally position a member ll major end area to underlie the window in covering relation with the number l3 exposable therethrough and, alternatively, to clear the associated window for full and clear exposure of said number, to which end each of the members I! is engaged by means of its stud [9 in a hole 20 appropriately correlated with the position of each of the numbers 13 and the associated exposure window 14. For selective manipulation of the individual shutters relative to their respective windows 14 and for limiting the range of individual shutter oscillation about the pivotal mounting thereof, a pin 2|, the same as or similar to the stud I9, is fixed to outstand perpendicularly from the face of each shutter member I! opposite to that carrying the said stud and is disposed inwardly adjacent the member straight side margin common to the major area and finger portions of the member in such spaced relation with the stud H! as will serve to accommodate the said pin in a window M of the element II when the stud of the same shutter member is engaged in the hole 20 of the element I0 appropriate to mount the shutter in selective covering relation with the number I3 exposable through said window. The pin 2| preferably has a lenth perpendicular to its member ll approximately equalling the thickness of the element It and less than will interfere with stacking of the unit board assemblies in superposed relation, in which length proportion said pin is presented through its window [4 for convenient engagement by the finger of an operator and for consequent manipulation effective to shift the associated shutter on its pivotal mounting between covering and exposing relations with the window-exposed number l3. As is manifest, engagement of the pin 2! with the opposite sides of its accommodating window l4 operates to limit oscillatory range of the associated shutter. and the location of the pin on its shutter member I1 is such as to establish a limit of shutter oscillation in one direction such as will dispose the shutter major area to fully underlie the window i i in full covering relation with the number l3 exposable therethrough and to establish a limit of shutter oscillation in the other direction such as will clear the shutter major area from obstructing relation with the window, save for a small triangular zone at the pin base, in a manner to fully expose the said number through the window. Hence, in the arrangement shown and described, the shutters may be individually and selectively manipulated to cover and thereby clearly designate any and all of the numbers l3 exposed through the windows [4 of a given board unit, shutter members ll of opaque material functioning to completely blank the covered numbers from view and such members when made of transparent material of contrasting color functioning to clearly distinguish the covered numbers while permitting exposure thereof. The shutters are adequately retained in any position of their adjustment relative to their associated numbers and windows by virtue of the frictions developed between the member I! faces and the element It and i I areas in contact therewith, it being expedient to proportion the spacing between said elements Ill and H, by means of marginal spacers 22, if desired, to the thickness of the shutters to assure clamping of the shutters under appropriate retentive pressure. While the shutters are primarily designed and arranged for individual adjustment as an incident of game play, the construction shown and describedaccommodates simultaneous adjustment of all the shutters of a board unit to a like limit of their shiftable range, since, with the board unit held in a vertical plane, a tap of one of the board unit upper corners against the hand or other object operates to shift all of the shutters in the same direction and to the limit of their adjustability adjacent the struck hand or object, thereby clearing the board unit for full exposure of all of its numbers [3 or, conversely, interposing a shutter area between each of said numbers and its exposure window, as one or the other of the board upper corners is struck.

The modified construction according to Figures 4 and 7 is in all functional and operative respects identical with that shown in the other views and hereinabove described, the only peculiarities of the modified construction being a reversal of the stud I9 position and a corresponding change in the location of the hole 20 wherein said stud engages. As shown in Figure 4, the stud l9 may be fixed to the shutter tapered finger portion l8 to outstand perpendicularly from the same side of the member I! as the pin 2|, in which event the hole 2|] for pivotal accommodation of each stud I9 is formed in and through the board element H, rather than in and through the element l0, and the assembly is completed for use and operation exactly as first described; location of the holes 20 in the element l l which carries the windows I 4 and I6 facilitating production through a concentration of all punching operations on a single element of each unit assembly.

While adapted for production from various materials and through the application of various techniques, the shutter units comprised in the improvement are susceptible of being conveniently and advantageously molded from so-called plastic material in either of the forms shown and described.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction, and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had without departing from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood as being limited solely by the scope of the appended claim, rather than by any details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

In a bingo board wherein a patterned arrangement of play indicia on one face of a card is exposed to view through rectangular window openings intersecting a second card closely and loosely overlying the patterned face of said first card in coextensive, marginally-engaged relation with said .first card, shutter means selectively manipulable into and out of obstructing relation with each said window opening and comprising a thin, flat member slidably engaged between said first and second cards in association with each window opening, a major end area on the member slightly greater than the associated window opening, a finger portion eX tending and tapered to a narrow free end from said major end area in alignment of one of its sides with the correspondingly positioned major end area side, a cylindrical stud perpendicularly outstanding from the finger portion free end, a hole for the accommodation of said stud intersecting one of said cards spacedly adjacent the associated window opening and in substantial alignment With a side margin thereof, whereby to pivotally engage the member with one of said cards for oscillation into and out of obstructing relation with the window opening, and a pin outstanding from the member major end area adjacent the side thereof coaligned with the finger portion and in spaced parallelism with said stud disposed for accommodation within the outline of the associated window opening when the stud is pivotally engaged with the card, whereby to constitute said pin as a means for manipulation of said member and as a stop engageable with opposite margins of the window opening to limit swing of the member major end area relative to the said opening.

EARL P. BUCHMILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,230,178 Campbell Jan. 28, 1941 2,322,324 Spitzner June 22, 1943 2,327,314 Mevi Aug. 17, 1943 

